1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to weft thread inserting apparatuses, and in particular to a weft thread apparatus for warp knitting machines which moves only transverse to the transfer chains and has a movable thread guide slidably disposed thereon to reduce the mass of the movable elements, thereby permitting the warp knitting machine to operate at accelerated speed.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
Many types of weft inserting mechanisms for use with warp knitting machines are known in the art. Typical of these is the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,732 issued to Wolfgang Doring, et al on May 30, 1972. The apparatus disclosed therein includes a rigid guide rod held in axial bearings at both ends thereof. The rod is driven by means of a chain drive from a common cam plate which runs parallel but oposed to the longitudinal movement of the transfer chains. Two levers are articulated to the rigid guide bar, one on each end, and may be pivoted to the stitch forming point on the machine and back and are held in the forward of position by means of springs. The carriage runs on two rails displaced from each other in the longitudinal direction and is provided with a front and rear end plate connected by rods. The thread carrier which is coupled to the guide rail is provided with a front and rear end plate and has disposed therebetween a plurality of openings which function as thread guide. The thread guide is displacable in a longitudinal direction along the rods disposed between the front and rear plates of the carriage in accordance with the motion imparted thereto by the movement of the rigid guide rod.
Utilizing this type of construction, or other construction similar thereto, substantially restricts the speed at which the machine may be operated, since the mass of the carriage and the thread guide causes tremendous forces when the machine operates at relatively high speeds. If an attempt is made to operate this type of machine at a relatively high speed, the amount of vibration encountered would soon cause the machine to fail. The shortcommings of this type of construction occuring in the art has been overcome with the instant invention by providing a relatively light weight carriage which moves in the transverse direction together with a thread guide of extremely light weight which moves only when proximate the transfer chain while the far end of the guide band is subject to minimal movement, thereby reducing the amount of mass to be moved and the associated vibrational forces accompanied therewith.